Ex-Patriots coach Fairbanks dead at 79

Former Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks, who guided the team from 1973 to 1978, passed away Tuesday in Scottsdale, Ariz., after battling brain cancer. He was 79.

The sixth coach in franchise history, Fairbanks spent six seasons leading the Patriots, and finished with a 46-40 mark, as well as two trips to the postseason.

Through shrewd drafting and advanced thinking — Patriots coach Bill Belichick has acknowledged him as one of the pioneers of the game, particularly when it comes to the 3-4 defense as it’s played in the pro game today — Fairbanks helped establish the Patriots as one of best young teams in the game. He drafted Steve Grogan, Mike Haynes, John Hannah, Sam Cunningham, Mosi Tatupu, Ray Hamilton and Darryl Stingley, and helped turn around the franchise, taking them from 3-11 in 1975 to 11-3 in 1976.

That 1976 team was one of the best in the game, and many believe it was robbed of a possible Super Bowl berth in a playoff game against the Raiders when a questionable roughing-the-passer call on defensive lineman Ray Hamilton kept a late Oakland drive alive, and eventually led to a Raiders touchdown.

His legacy in New England was a complicated one — he left in acrimonious fashion to take the head coaching job at Colorado, and later admitted to recruiting for the Buffaloes while he was still coaching in New England. But his influence on the game, as well as the Patriots franchise, cannot be overstated. In a press conference in 2007, Belichick said Fairbanks has a “tremendous influence” on the game, as well as how the Patriots operate.

“I think Chuck has had a tremendous influence on the league as well as this organization in terms of nomenclature and terminology and those kinds of things,” Belichick said. “I’m sure Chuck could walk in and look at our playbook and probably 80 percent of the plays are the same terminology that he used — whether it be formations or coverages or pass protections. We were sitting there talking yesterday and he was saying, ‘How much 60 protection are you guys using? How much 80 are you using?’ All of the stuff that was really the fundamentals of his system are still in place here.”

Greg and Chris talk with Mike Reiss from ESPN Boston in hour 2 of NFL Sunday to discuss a variety of offseason happenings with the Pats and throughout the league. Greg and Chris also get into the NFL Draft and where Mariota and Winston will go.

Mike Reiss calls the guys to talk about the offseason news for the Pats. He talks about the Pats/Jets tampoering fiasco, free agency, where he sees Ridley and Connolly ending up, if the Patriots would be interested in Reggie Wayne and more.

In the first hour of the show, Greg and Chris discuss the news coming out of the owners' meetings this week and rule changes. Belichick's blow-up over the league not wanting to spend on endzone cameras was well documented and the guys react. They also talk about the Jets ridiculous tampering charges, free agents still lingering out there, where Stevan Ridley will land and the RB position in New England. Dickerson and Price briefly discuss the adventures of Tom Brady before being joined by WEEI.com's Mike Petraglia to talk all things Pats in the offseason.

Flannery joins Mut to break down the Isaiah Thomas trade to Boston and what it means for the Celtics this season and in the future. Paul also chats with Mut about the other deals that happened at the NBA's trading deadline

Mut, Tomase, and Bradford kick things off talking about Shane Victorino taking offense to people reading into some comments he made about trading for Cole Hamels. They also discuss Blake Swihart and how soon he could be up if Christian Vazquez starts the season on the DL.

Joe Kelly joined the Hot Stove show where he talked about being ready for his next spring training start after a biceps ailment forced him out of his last outing, he talks about his NCAA brackets and how teammate Wade Miley has a perfect bracket still.

Peter Chiarelli joined the Sunday Skate crew to talk about the Bruins playoff push heading into the final handful of games of the regular season. Chiarelli talked about avoiding some of the overly negative feedback he gets while realizing that the team does have real issues. He discusses what went down at the trade deadline and if he was happy with the outcome, Lucic having a down year and underperforming, the salary cap and if he considers it as big of an issue as it's been made out to be and what the future holds for the team.

It's a big hour #2 for the Sunday Skate dudes - they talk about the B's defenseman and what the future looks like at that position, with both moves the team can make and younger guys in the AHL. They also get into the Bruins philosophy on bringing guys up and sending them back down and how players deal with that. Finally, the boys are joined by Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli to discuss EVERYTHING.

The Sunday Skate crew gets the show going discussing the Bruins big, impressive victory over the NY Rangers yesterday. What can you take from that game? According to LB - Lyndon Byers - who called the guys from the road, not a lot. LB drops a dime on what was going on with the Rangers yesterday. DJ and Joe discuss Claude's lines and groupings and the importance of Ryan Spooner. They also get into Lucic, his contributions this year and if he can turn things around.

Wrestlemania was a trial run for Super Bowl 50. More Christian dog stuff. Superintendent in Chief William Gross of the BPD deals with some idiotic protesters after the fatal shooting in Roxbury on Friday night.

Shawn Thornton is now a member of the Panthers, who come to town tomorrow night. Thornton spoke about Claude Julien's control of the Bruins locker room, and his own team playing his former team on Tuesday night.